Back to black: Jose Mourinho pulled off a tactical masterstroke as Chelsea secured a vital victory at City

Even Chelsea's players, who had
practised something completely different before travelling to
Manchester, had been outfoxed. They had travelled north on Sunday
believing Willian was the odd man out in a system designed to stop
City's getting a grip on this stirring night.

No-one
in the Chelsea squad really believed that Oscar, their talisman with
nine goals this season, could not start a game of this magnitude. They
had been sold a dummy and yet the master Mourinho made this look like
child's play at the Etihad. He really is the Special One.

His
celebration, an approving nod of the head after Branislav Ivanovic's
stunning strike beat Joe Hart all ends up, felt like the most natural
thing in the world.

In the
stands, Chelsea's supporters celebrated as wildly as they did when
Didier Drogba struck the winning penalty in the Champions League final
against Bayern Munich. It was a stunning sight. To watch the emotion,
the sheer unbridled joy on their sozzled faces, was one of the most
endearing moments of the season. Ivanovic's goal was of such
significance that you almost wanted to be in there with them to really
feel what that goal meant to them.

Blue is the colour: Ivanovic is mobbed by his Chelsea team-mates after scoring the game's winning goal

No room at the inn: Mourinho omitted Oscar from the starting line-up instead opting for David Luiz and Matic

To
Mourinho it was simply part of the plot, the crystallisation of an idea
that had been talked through after they had drawn with West Ham last
Wednesday.

There were
moments when he lost it, flailing his arms in the air and switching
languages depending on the players involved in the latest skirmish out
on the Etihad playing surface.

For
David Silva, who was outstanding when he drifted inside, it was all in
Spanish when the little playmaker was nailed by Branislav Ivanovic. It
left nothing to the imagination.

To
Luiz it was all in Portuguese every time Silva lost him, which was
frequently on this mother of all football nights in Manchester.

For Alvaro Negredo it was back to Spanish when the City forward when
down clutching his face towards the end of the first half. It was that
kind of niggly, tempestuous affair that Mourinho thrives on. At times, the rancour felt deliberate and predetermined.

Opinion: Mourinho was accused of 'parking the bus' with his defensive line-up, but he had the last laugh

Few managers have such an influence on matters on the field as Mourinho
and his ability to break up play is unparalleled in the modern era.
Others will tell you that Don Revie was just as bad at Leeds in the
Seventies, but he didn't have anywhere near the same allure as Chelsea's
manager.

Yet Mourinho
is not without his faults. It was irritating to the extreme to watch
him march five yards on to the field to wave an imaginary red card when
Matija Nastasic hauled down substitute Oscar. He's better than that, or
at least he should be. When referee Mike Dean sounded the death rattle
for City, Mourinho was on the pitch again to demand more from his
players.

To a man they
filed back into position and even Eden Hazard, on the substitutes'
bench after this outstanding performance, was embracing everyone at the
final whistle.

After a
short, sharp fist pump, Mourinho made his way to Pellegrini for the
briefest of handshakes before he headed down the tunnel. For Mourinho,
it meant he had pulled off the dream double.

Centre of attention: Mourinho poses for pictures with Manchester City supporters ahead of the game